RESOURCE SAVING dishwashers and glasswashers help deliver 5 star service at top Belfast hotel. The Merchant Hotel in Belfast is indisputably the most prestigious hotel in Northern Ireland and one of the UKs great venues. A former bank HQ, built in 1860, with a recently-added art deco-style extension, it offers guests a luxurious one-stop experience: fine dining restaurant, night club, cocktail bar, pub, spa, jazz bar and the biggest bedrooms in Ireland. It also boasts busy conference, event and wedding venue facilities.
Its very strong on food and beverages which isnt altogether surprising since the man in charge, Marco Marro, won the hotel industry F&B manager of the Year. The hotel is a popular venue for both business and leisure, he says. As one of the busiest hotels in Ireland, we serve hundreds of afternoon teas and thousands of covers every week, not only in the restaurant but in the clubs, bars and event venues too.
That much activity inevitably puts pressure on the facilities especially the dish and glass washing. The Merchant uses Winterhalter for all its warewashing, with a high volume, multi-tank MTR 2 system in the main kitchen and undercounter UC machines in the clubs and bars.
We have a discerning customer base and the glasses and dishes need to match the quality of our service, says Marco Marro. The Winterhalters deliver great results. Ive been in the business 25 years and Ive seen plenty of other machines these are really good. Theyre also reliable and easy to operate which is invaluable in a busy kitchen.
One feature that has particularly impressed him is the UC machines ability to clean glasses so that they need no polishing or hand drying after the wash. They dry brilliantly and it saves on both manpower and breakages, he says.
Whilst top quality cleaning results are paramount, all The Merchants Winterhalters also feature energy-saving technologies. For example, the hotels MTR conveyor warewasher, which is capable of processing up to 130 racks hour, has an exhaust air heat recovery system that uses the energy of the machines warm exhaust air to pre-heat incoming water. Winterhalter has also designed the MTR 2 with contents-controlled zone activation, so that pumps and fans in each zone only operate if dishes are actually present. All this leads to considerable savings in energy costs.
Sustainability and cutting running costs are important to every business and The Merchant Hotel is no exception. The eco-credentials combined with the reduction in use of energy, water and chemicals were important factors in specifying the Winterhalter machines, Marco Marro says.